Texas Hunting Forum

Fish Status

Posted By: billybob

Fish Status - 10/01/15 09:06 PM

Transplanted fish into both of my tanks in May...cats are about 12" and this monster bluegill..don't laugh my fingers are 10" long

Posted By: SnakeWrangler

Re: Fish Status - 10/01/15 09:08 PM

up
Posted By: Txcatman1

Re: Fish Status - 10/01/15 09:38 PM

Well your bluegills could be bigger because that there is a green sunfish. Not a bluegill
Posted By: rickym

Re: Fish Status - 10/01/15 09:43 PM

Originally Posted By: Txcatman1
Well your bluegills could be bigger because that there is a green sunfish. Not a bluegill


Correct. roflmao
Posted By: billybob

Re: Fish Status - 10/01/15 10:46 PM

Didn't buy any green sunfish. Bluegill, black crappie, Hybrid stripers, catfish and millions of minners and shad. How are you certain it's a green sunfish? They are both very similar.
Posted By: rickym

Re: Fish Status - 10/01/15 11:06 PM

Mouth is to large, you can see the Orange around the ears and starting to form on fins and tail, can see the beginning of black spots on the back dorsal fin and anal fin. No bars like a bluegill has either, and to long and not enough girth to be a bluegill
Posted By: Txcatman1

Re: Fish Status - 10/01/15 11:26 PM

I'll say it again, that's a green sunfish, won't be long you'll prob get some bullheads in your pond too, birds carry eggs on their feet easily, and fish find ways to move around, it's inevitable. Biology, wildlife and marine biology especially are my thing. I'd be willing to bet I could id any fish or animal you show me. Just google green sunfish. Bluegills don't have those green pretty lines through the face and body, and the red gill plate should tell you that it's not a "blue" gill
Posted By: Txcatman1

Re: Fish Status - 10/01/15 11:27 PM

Did you start with empty ponds and fill em then stock em, they were most likely there before you stocked
Posted By: BooneDog

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 12:23 AM

Either one of them will bait a trot line or feed your bass.
Posted By: ETexas Hunter

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 12:28 AM

looks like green sunfish. good eating
Posted By: Txhunter65

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 01:07 AM

Green sunfish= goggle-eye, rock bass, or branch perch!!! But it's definetly all of these and not a bluegill!

Green sunfish


Bluegill
Posted By: Txhunter65

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 03:51 AM

Forgot war mouth!
Posted By: billybob

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 03:53 AM

The tanks were bone dry before May so there were no fish before. Entirely possible it was dropped by a bird. Or maybe Pond King slipped some in on me

Originally Posted By: Txhunter65
Green sunfish= goggle-eye, rock bass, or branch perch!!! But it's definetly all of these and not a bluegill!

Green sunfish


Bluegill

Posted By: Txcatman1

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 05:56 AM

If you want them as forage fish then it's ok I guess but if you were trying to grow big bluegills then I don't know how everything will play out, bass and cats will eat em and there good eating like a bluegill when they get big but it's just another species in there that take up growing room for more desirables I guess you could say. How big are the ponds
Posted By: Txcatman1

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 06:02 AM

Originally Posted By: Txhunter65
Green sunfish= goggle-eye, rock bass, or branch perch!!! But it's definetly all of these and not a bluegill!

Green sunfish


Bluegill



Actually the war mouth and rock bass are two totally different species than the green sunfish as well
Posted By: Dave Davidson

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 10:39 AM

Yep, green sunfish. They don't get as large as bluegills but will out fight them every time. Actually a cross between a bluegill and hybrid bluegill. They only spawns annually so aren't considered good forage for bass. I love fishing for those mutts.
Posted By: poisonivie

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 10:57 AM

they're all perch.
Posted By: Western

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 11:00 AM

Billybob, look into Coppernose BG, they are prolific, eat smaller meals and will take pellets great.

I used them in 2 ponds years ago and they where great for forage (spawned 3-4 times a year), got bigger than my other BGs as well. Great eating too.
Posted By: Stub

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 11:27 AM

What type of Cats did you stock with?
Posted By: billybob

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 12:01 PM

Actually the cats are in another tank but I got blues and channel. I confirmed that Pond King did not slip any green sunfish to me...so it must be birds. I have a lot of ducks and cranes that reside there.
Posted By: rico334

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 12:09 PM

If they'll bite a worm on hook, who cares what they're called..... banana
Posted By: billybob

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 12:10 PM

Dennis when the crappie and stripers get big enough...I don't think much else will survive. The main pond is about an acre and the catfish pond is about .5 acre. Both have trenches that are 8-10' deep. I feed the cats but the other predator fish need to hunt for their own. As I said earlier they have a zillion minners to mess with.
Posted By: Stub

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 01:12 PM

Originally Posted By: billybob
Dennis when the crappie and stripers get big enough...I don't think much else will survive. The main pond is about an acre and the catfish pond is about .5 acre. Both have trenches that are 8-10' deep. I feed the cats but the other predator fish need to hunt for their own. As I said earlier they have a zillion minners to mess with.


You put/have stripers in a pond?
Posted By: billybob

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 01:34 PM

Yea they are hybrids. Sandbass/striper and they do not propagate
Posted By: Mr. Clean

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 02:16 PM

Who gives a rats azz what kind it is, they fry up the same and go great with a cold beer!?
Posted By: Western

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 02:23 PM

Originally Posted By: rico334
If they'll bite a worm on hook, who cares what they're called..... banana


Because some types of BG, are better choice for pond management. A bg that is prolific, but doesn't hurt, but enhances the food chain, (diet verses # of offspring) is better. That is why I say put in the coppernose BG.

Billy bob, you may regret having the crappie in such a small pond, every time I have seen it done like that, they over produce and end up small and skinny. Maybe the hybrids will solve that for you though.

I think Hybrids would be fun and "kewl" as long as you can supply enough feed fish. AND they taste good up
Posted By: Txcatman1

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 02:27 PM

Never meant to be negative by any of my posts just informative, and I think your right about the crappie for sure, you will probably end up with a ton of small crappie as the years go by
Posted By: billybob

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 02:29 PM

Actually they are black crappie...apparently not as prolific breeder as the white. You still have to harvest them which I love to do any way. No catch and release on this ranch!
Posted By: Txcatman1

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 02:31 PM

Stay on top of em and you should have a never ending crappie supply lol
Posted By: billybob

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 02:36 PM

Originally Posted By: Txcatman1
Never meant to be negative by any of my posts just informative, and I think your right about the crappie for sure, you will probably end up with a ton of small crappie as the years go by

Never took anything as being negative. I like to get a consensus. And I'm appreciative of any input both negative and positive.
Posted By: Gangly

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 02:59 PM

Get rid of the green sunfish. They will out compete your Blue gill for food, breed prolifically, and never get large enough to do anything with but use as trot line bait. If you catch any more, toss them on the bank or slice them up and use as bait. Do not throw them back into the water.
Posted By: billybob

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 03:13 PM

That's what I was thinking...but actually they are both food for my crappie and hybrid stripers
Posted By: Cast

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 03:22 PM

Either of those perch, especially the Goggle Eye is the bee's knees on a light fly rod. Great eating too! I was born with a split bamboo fly rod in my hand and was raised on Goggle Eyes.
Posted By: SouthWestIron

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 03:27 PM

Yeah I've also called those Warmouths for years also. Not sure if I was right in that labeling though. They can fight and get good sized.
Posted By: Dave Davidson

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 03:41 PM

Warmouths are a different species.

The Green Sunfish isn't very prolific. They only spawn annually. Bluegills and Coppernose have a rolling spawn that can continue all Spring and into Autumn.

I don't hesitate to pull small GSF from my forage pond and put in my larger one. Being more fusiform, they are a preferred bass forage. Over the life of the pond, the BG and CNBG usually out spawn them until they pretty much disappear.

If you ever catch a 8 to 9 inch GSF, you'll be a big fan of those mutts.
Posted By: aggiehunter03

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 03:44 PM

Posted By: Dave Davidson

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 04:00 PM

BTW, birds bringing fish or fish eggs doesn't happen.

I'm a pond junkie and had heard that for years. So, I killed some ducks and tried to get fish eggs to stick to their feet, feathers and beaks. It didn't happen. If it did happen, non oxygenated eggs wouldn't be viable. Without adult protection they would get eaten. I figure it could theoretically happen but maybe one time in a really large number. 95-99% of all the eggs ever laid, due to predation, never get the chance to survive into a viable spawning fish. That's just natures way of keeping everything in balance.
Posted By: billybob

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 05:25 PM

I've always hear that they ate the eggs then pooped them in a pond flush
Posted By: Txcatman1

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 05:30 PM

Originally Posted By: Dave Davidson
BTW, birds bringing fish or fish eggs doesn't happen.

I'm a pond junkie and had heard that for years. So, I killed some ducks and tried to get fish eggs to stick to their feet, feathers and beaks. It didn't happen. If it did happen, non oxygenated eggs wouldn't be viable. Without adult protection they would get eaten. I figure it could theoretically happen but maybe one time in a really large number. 95-99% of all the eggs ever laid, due to predation, never get the chance to survive into a viable spawning fish. That's just natures way of keeping everything in balance.


All it takes is one time for a few eggs to make it and survive which i understand the probability being very slim but I've seen this scenario in a lot of ponds. Non introduced species in a stocked tank. They get there some way or another. And just to point out a few things on your experiment. A dead duck is extremely different than a live duck, you ever see em take a bath or any bird for that matter, all it takes is for them to do that over a batch of 100,000 eggs and shower themselfs with eggs then jump over to the next pond a quarter mile away. It happens one way or the other, it's inevitable
Posted By: Txcatman1

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 05:31 PM

Originally Posted By: billybob
I've always hear that they ate the eggs then pooped them in a pond flush


Thats another theory too, I don't no how they would hold up though the digestive system but that could happen as well
Posted By: SouthWestIron

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 10:05 PM

I had a Game warden tell the the same thing about bird legs and fish eggs. I really would like to know how this happens!
Posted By: Western

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 10:22 PM

Originally Posted By: blazin
I had a Game warden tell the the same thing about bird legs and fish eggs. I really would like to know how this happens!


I have had the district head of fisheries here tell me the same thing, his wife worked with my wife for many years. Also how many of our lakes have been plagued wit those damn mussels now as well. Not just boaters.
Posted By: dogcatcher

Re: Fish Status - 10/02/15 10:33 PM

We have one tank that goes dry before the others get low. It has never been stocked, but a year after it has gone dry it always has fish in it, usually nothing more than small perch, but enough that the grandkids are happy with a cane pole and some worms. I go with the theory that birds are responsible, there is no other way the fish or eggs could get there.

But we have caught catfish, killed bull frogs and had a few water snakes show up. This tank is about an 1/8 of mile to the closest other body or water, and almost a 1/4 mile to the next one. Both of the closest tanks are down hill of this one, so overflow did not get the fish up hill to this tank. This tank drainage is on the side of a caliche hill, it has a nothing to provide fish or fish eggs on it.
Posted By: SouthWestIron

Re: Fish Status - 10/05/15 04:26 AM

Originally Posted By: dogcatcher
We have one tank that goes dry before the others get low. It has never been stocked, but a year after it has gone dry it always has fish in it, usually nothing more than small perch, but enough that the grandkids are happy with a cane pole and some worms. I go with the theory that birds are responsible, there is no other way the fish or eggs could get there.

But we have caught catfish, killed bull frogs and had a few water snakes show up. This tank is about an 1/8 of mile to the closest other body or water, and almost a 1/4 mile to the next one. Both of the closest tanks are down hill of this one, so overflow did not get the fish up hill to this tank. This tank drainage is on the side of a caliche hill, it has a nothing to provide fish or fish eggs on it.


Really wish we had a definitive answer on this! I'm not saying I don't buy into the birds leg thing but seems to be a bit of a stretch.
Posted By: Dave Davidson

Re: Fish Status - 10/05/15 11:01 AM

I guess it's theoretically possible but I can't make it work. Nor do I find any research to prove it. No parent to protect it or oxygenate by finning would make it extremely improbable.

There are instances where sand bass have pulled off a spawn on windswept rip rap with no creek or river inflow.

That said, mosquito fish(gambusia) seem to show up in a lot of East Texas ponds.
© 2024 Texas Hunting Forum